Some (more) thoughts on body image and healthy goal weights

note: All of the statistics that I will be mentioning today are from the National Associaton of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, Inc. 

As many of you know, I have a personal history with disordered eating.  I have had an unhealthy relationship with food and exercise for almost a decade now. 

While I've recovered from EDNOS (my official diagnosis years ago, because I met all criterea for anorexia except for being underweight, and that's by BMI's standards, mind you) for years now, I still have a tendency to obsess about what I'm eating.

It makes me sad to know how NOT ALONE I am in this.  I wish that there weren't so many people who are currently suffereing or have suffered from an eating disorder. 

Up to 24 million people of all ages and genders suffer from an eating disorder (anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorder)

in the U.S.



I think that the "fat" image she sees looks pretty thin and beautiful!

[image source]

That's a pretty big number.  That one doesn't surprise me or sadden me nearly as much as this one:

Over one-half of teenage girls and nearly one-third of teenage boys use unhealthy weight control behaviors such as

skipping meals, fasting, smoking cigarettes, vomiting,

and taking laxatives.

[image source]


Over one half???  Nearly one third???  REALLY??? 

The pressure to be thin astounds me.  And I still feel the pressure myself sometimes, unfortunately. 
The only thing that I can do to help these teens is to be a good role model.  I quit smoking, I recovered from an eating disorder, I lost weight in a healthy way with good eating and moderate exercise.  I don't constantly talk about food and my body.  (Yes, I do on this blog, but that's because this is a healthy living blog!)

What are you doing to be a good role model for children who may be susceptable to eating disorders?

Here's one that I still need to keep myself in check about:

The body type portrayed in advertising as the ideal is possessed naturally by only 5% of American females.



Yes, I used Sarah Michelle Gellar as an example, because
I used to strive for a body like hers.

[image source]

5 % of American women have the natural ability to look like Sarah Michelle Gellar or Alyssa Milano (I use examples of skinny and beautiful actresses from two of my favorite TV shows).

The rest of us are NOT MEANT TO BE THAT SKINNY.  End of story.

We do have some options:

1) Spend the rest of our lives trying to get there, or

2) Accept our bodies. 

I say that we go for option #2.  What do you think?

I feel skinny today!

Do you ever have a day where you feel as if your body looks like this?

I wonder what Alyssa eats...

That is how I feel today.  Seriously, I am having one of those rare and elusive "skinny days". 

And I'm PMS-ing, so this is a major NSV for me. No bloat whatsoever.

I know that it's all mental, and that I feel this way because I went from Intuitive Eating to My Fitness Pal, and feel as if the weight is already melting away...

But I'm going to hold onto this feeling!!! 

I just love skinny days.

P.S.  I am planning to do "Tasty Thursday" this week, since I missed it yesterday and need to buy batteries for my camera!  I want to show you guys that there really aren't too many changes from what I was eating on WW to IE to MFP. 

My thoughts on the whole Ginnifer Goodwin thing...

Ginnifer Goodwin - former vegan

In case you're not as obsessed with celebrity vegans as I am and haven't heard:  Ginnifer Goodwin is no longer vegan.  About two years ago, she "came out" as a vegan and did several interviews on the subject.

She inspired me in so many ways!  First, I loved her for being a great actress in two of my guilty pleasures, "Big Love" and "He's Just Not That Into You". 

When I found out that she was vegan, I was floored!  Also, she wasn't just vegan, she was a vegan Weight Watcher!  YAY!  Finally a celebrity that I could relate to. 

Also, I based my haircut on her short hair.  Mostly because we both have heart-shaped faces and I was convinced that if Ginnifer could pull it off, so could I!

Anyway, I love Ginnifer Goodwin.

Does her recent "confession" of giving up on veganism take away from that love?

I'm not gonna lie...  I am disappointed.  But not disappointed in Ginnifer. 

I'm disappointed that the media is reporting on it in the first place!  And the articles all say that the reason she dropped veganism is "health reasons". 

She didn't elaborate.  And she shouldn't have to; diets are very personal things (unless you have a diet blog!).

My concern is that people will read these articles and assume that because veganism wasn't healthy for Ginnifer it's not healthy for anyone.  Dragging veganism as a healthy dietary choice through the mud... again.

And I hate that!

So my feelings on Ginnifer Goodwin no longer being a vegan: Whatever.  I don't care.  Ginnifer is now only a role model for me with her hair, and that's okay. :-)



My feelings on the publicity of her quote "for health reasons": It sucks.  Veganism CAN be very healthy!

I wrote my research paper about how veganism can be just as adequate in nutrition as a non-vegan one. Is anyone interested in reading my paper? I can do a series of posts sharing it, if you like.

Neve Campbell's Healthy Outlook (and smokin' bod)

Good morning! This morning was a great workout for me. I did 40 minutes on the Nordic Track skiier!!! What a rush, I hadn't been on that thing in a couple of weeks. That's one great thing about switching up my workouts: Everything becomes a challenge. Since I hadn't done the NT for a bit, my muscles weren't used to it anymore, and it was very challenging again! I don't know if that's actually a positive thing, but I have to assume that it is, because I think that my body had grown so used to it, with my doing it daily. Now, my body was CRAVING the Nordic Track. I woke up ready to go! While I skiied my worries away, I watched Ellen. I love that she's on at 6, it really makes my Nordic Track workout fly by. :-) Her last guest this morning was Neve Campbell. Now, I'm not going to lie: I haven't really thought about Neve Campbell in awhile. She's been out of the spotlight for me. I am one of the biggest Scream fans that you are ever likely to meet (I'm only half-joking when I tell people that I'm considering wearing my Scream mask to the Scream 4 premiere...) and so I do have a giant soft spot in my heart for Neve (and for everyone in the original Scream movie for that matter.). When Neve came on camera today, the first thing I thought was, "Wow, she looks so great!" And I was talking about her BODY, as well as her face (she hasn't aged. Seriously, no aging whatsoever. I'm like 8 years younger than her and look older. But that's okay... I guess.) Anyway, apparently there has been controversy about her body. She was spotted in this bikini last year, and the headlines read things like: Neve no longer a "Wild Thing" and just basically told people that Neve was entering Plus Size territory! Um.... Do you see a plus size person in this picture? I sure don't! I think that she looks great in this candid bikini shot. Not many people can look this great in a candid bikini shot, don't you agree? ;-) I just had to write about this, because she amazed me on Ellen today. She said that she disagreed with the comments, that she is NOT going to lose weight, that she looks great and is healthy. She mentioned that she likes to eat, and that she goes to the gym 5 times a week. Also, Ellen and her spoke about how horrible it is that young girls will read articles like this, calling pictures like this one (above) FAT.

Role model of the day: Neve Campbell

Of course, there was some advertising on the show- Neve is the cover girl of Health Magazine this month, and now I really want to go out and buy this. *pictures found on page one of BING results for "Neve Campbell bikini" and "Neve Campbell on Health Magazine"*

So, what do you think? Do you agree with the media, that Neve Campbell has "put on a few" and "needs to lose it to stay in the game"? Or are you on my side, and think that she looks thin and healthy?

Congrats, Alicia!!!

[source]

I feel like as a blogger who blogs about The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone, I should have known about this before today. Where was I??? Alicia Silverstone is very pregnant, and I'm so happy for her! I'm excited to see how she does with raising her child as a vegan.

Congratulations to Alicia and Chris!!!

Oprah's vegan challenge!

I apologize for a lack of paragraphs. I cannot figure out why blogger keeps taking my paragraphs away! I will put every other paragraph in bold, to help make this easier to read...

I feel like I'm in the minority here, but I loved the vegan Oprah episode! Also, I think that both Michael Pollan and Kathy Freston were very good sources of information. Both furthered our cause.

First off, in case you missed this story completely, here's the gist:

Oprah decided to challenge the entire crew of Harpo to go vegan for one week. It was entirely optional, but a lot of people signed up!

The entire wealthy staff was handed big bags of freebies from Whole Foods and Kashi (can you tell I'm bitter about this?) to get them started.

In the episode, one of Oprah's correspondents visited a factory farm. One of the "good ones" that "treat the animals with dignity". Pfft.

They showed a LOT. I cried, as I always do when I watch animals walk to their deaths. They started with showing the cows in a cramped lot, being force-fed corn products to fatten them up.

Then they showed the cows being led to slaughter...

Next, though they were unable to film the actual killing (yes, let's call a spade a spade, shall we?) we watched the reporter's face as she watched the cows being stunned with rods being shoved violently through their skulls (from behind, to preserve the animal's dignity, of course).

I don't know why the cameras couldn't show that part even though the next part was just as graphic. Cows being drained of blood, skinned, cut in half. It was pretty graphic. Having just seen these beautiful animals as alive in the previous scene, I was very sad. :-(

Of course, this part at the factory farm wasn't that long, but it was the most shocking.

The rest of the episode was Michael Pollan talking about food from his angle. And Oprah asking the veganist (Kathy Freston) about if it was "okay" to eat eggs from chickens if you know for a fact that they are ridiculously happy to give the eggs away. Kathy said, "Yes, but most people don't have access to that." and Oprah said, "Most people don't. But I do!!!" ...kind of rubbed me the wrong way, but... sigh. (You know what else you could have access to, Oprah? A live-in vegan chef!!!)

Michael Pollan is NOT a vegan. Kathy Freston is. Oprah does not appear to be choosing to remain vegan, but some of her staff is. The benefits of veganism were discussed, as well as the benefits to keeping some animal protein in your diet.

Kathy Freston showed how easy it is to switch from meat and dairy to veganism. I love that she showed a bunch of fake meat and cheese as well as fresh options, like beans, grains, and produce. I think that anyone starting out needs those starter things like fake meat. I still cook with it occassionally, it's really good! No shame in the fake stuff. :-)

Michael Pollan's take on who should or should not eat meat is a bit different from mine. He thinks that if someone knows exactly where the meat comes from and can deal with the knowledge, they should eat meat. Me, I think that the only people who should eat animals are the ones who would be willing to kill the animals themselves (hunters, indigenous tribes, fishermen, etc.).

But overall, I think that this episode is a big step in the right direction, and I thank Oprah for doing this.

P.S. After watching this with me, Stacey has agreed to do "Meatless Mondays" at our house!!! YAY!!!